Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 85 – Five Element Sword Array

As if it had become habit, every month, Qin Yu would leave the Pill Disposal Department for a single day. He didn’t do anything else, only boiling some tea, drinking it, and then sleeping. Oddly enough, this didn’t stir up any contempt, and instead brought about countless looks of awe. This was because using a fire lighting method to boil tea was truly a sky-breaking level of skill!

Cao Han remained quiet. He didn’t try to get close nor did he attempt to flatter Qin Yu. But, he did make preparations in advance every time. Each time Qin Yu came out and slept, he would personally stand guard, and after Qin Yu awoke he would bow and leave.

Although Eclipse Yuan felt disdain in his heart, he didn’t dare to reveal any of this on his face. He had already reported this matter to the high level figures of his clan, but they delayed their replies every time. In truth, this represented the Eclipse Clan’s attitude in a certain sense.

Keep a respectful distance. Or to be more blunt – do not provoke him.

Eclipse Yuan simply pretended he didn’t see anything at all. When it came time to change shifts, he viewed Qin Yu and Cao Han as empty air.

The sun rose in the east and set in the west.

The sixth time that Qin Yu left the Pill Disposal Department, there was a faint sprinkling of rain. The rain fell through the sealing enchantment and seeped into the earth. Just like the previous times, there was a table, chair, and tea set up. But this time there was an additional large umbrella, rustling as the rain landed atop it.

Cao Han calmly bowed and immediately stood straight. No matter how the rain wet his clothes, he looked forwards with a stern gaze. Behind him, his subordinates didn’t use any magic power at all and stood there in silence, waiting, and with a bit of awe in their eyes. This wasn’t done on purpose. Rather, with the sealing enchantment so close, using magic power could possibly cause fluctuations in the barrier. Although it was weak, it could also produce potential dangers.

Qin Yu smiled. He stepped below the umbrella, lit a fire, boiled water, and steeped some tea. His movements were smooth and simple, completely natural. He lowered his head and took a sip. The taste of the tea spread in his mouth, turning faintly sweet and producing a long aftertaste. This was a good tea, even better than what he had before.

Qin Yu looked at Cao Han who was steadily gazing forwards. After thinking for a moment, he beckoned him over. Cao Han kept his composure, but his subordinates were excited to the point of flushing red. After doing all of this for half a year, their efforts had finally borne fruit! Beneath many heated gazes, Cao Han stepped near the large umbrella and bowed. “Greetings, Junior Uncle.”

Qin Yu asked, “Have you been stranded at the fourth level of Golden Core for a long time?”

Cao Han stiffened. “Yes, it’s been 29 years.”

“Give me your hand.”

Cao Han suppressed his excitement. He stepped forwards.

Qin Yu felt his pulse and let go after several breaths of time. “You received a serious wound a long time ago. Although you lived, the damage your meridians suffered was too great, making it difficult for you to produce any breakthroughs from that point on.” He flipped his hand and took out a jade bottle. “There is an Essence Restoring Pill in here. It can heal your meridians. Take this pill. From today on, you no longer have to prepare anything for me in the future.”

Cao Han took the jade bottle, cupped his hands together, and deeply bowed before drawing back several steps and leaving.

After Qin Yu drank his tea he shut his eyes and slept. When he opened them once more, he saw Cao Han standing in the rain, his entire body soaking wet.

Cao Han bowed once more. “Today is the last time. Please allow me to thank Junior Uncle for this great graciousness!”

After the earnest bow, he turned and walked away.

Looking at his back, Qin Yu remained silent for several breaths of time. He sighed.

He helped Cao Han not just because he carefully and discreetly served him, but mostly because his quiet and respectful attitude reminded him of Lang Tu. That good friend of his that had a pure and simple mind, that had a childish face, and when facing outsiders would often stand and act in such a manner that made it seem as if he wasn’t easy to bully. In the blink of an eye several years passed and he travelled farther and farther in his cultivation, but at that time, Lang Tu’s life actually came to an end.

A darkness flashed between Qin Yu’s eyebrows. He immediately took a deep breath and moved towards the entrance.

The dead were dead and the living had to continue living.

Without desiring a life of ruling supreme over the world, he only wanted a future where he could control his own life and protect those close to him.

As Qin Yu stepped into the Pill Disposal Department, he wanted to calm his thoughts. However, Ning Ling’s figure rose up from deep within his memories. He forced a smile and paused. As he faced that vast curtain of swords and the boundless power contained within, for a time his emotions surged like a raging ocean. In the past, if he had been able to control this strength, would he have been able to change Ning Ling’s destiny?

Sure enough, a person would always have regrets, would always have dissatisfactions, would always have wishes. But those things that were gone would never return. For instance, within his dark memories, that woman had left behind a gorgeous flash of light. But in the blink of an eye, she had also disappeared!

Buzz –

Hundreds of millions of swords began to sound out. Qin Yu’s mind instantly returned to clarity as he swept all his confusing and distracting thoughts away. It was only now he discovered that his bodily strength and magic power were in chaos, even developing signs of going crazy.

Heart demon!

Qin Yu’s expression turned cold. He never imagined that by helping Cao Hao, he would unknowingly fall into danger. If he hadn’t promptly woken himself up then once his magic power went awry, even if his Demon Body was powerful he would still have been severely wounded.

The sound of the swords…sword curtain…

Qin Yu turned around. The figure of a young girl appeared in front of him. She quietly stood there, as ephemeral as a dream, as faint as an illusion.

An unparalleled beauty.

Qin Yu fell silent. He wasn’t praising her looks, but was startled that he hadn’t noticed her until now. This young girl’s aura really did seem to be a shadow, as if she were formed purely by distortions of light without any tangible substance.

“Thank you!”

The young girl’s voice was extremely light. “No need to thank me.”

The two fell into a strange silence.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows together. But before he could speak, the young girl continued to say, “The power of the array discs you arranged is quite strong; I cannot see what happens within.”

She spoke in a tranquil tone without any emphasis at all. Inexplicably, it made one want to trust her.

Qin Yu nodded. “This is our second time meeting. My name is Qin Yu. May I ask for miss’ name?”

“Spirity.”

A nickname – it seemed she wanted to remain anonymous. But Qin Yu had heard Pill Crucible call her this, and the feeling she gave off didn’t seem as if she were concealing anything.

This name was a bit strange.

Qin Yu wanted to say something, but as his thoughts swirled about, he couldn’t find anything to talk about. This young girl seemed to have a halo of silence around her.

Spirity seemed to have realized this. She pursed her lips, “If you didn’t want him to disturb you, why did you help him?” Before any explanation, Qin Yu understood what she meant. He smiled, “Perhaps I only wanted to tell him that there will always be a day when the effort he puts in will be returned.”

This was clearly just a cursory answer. As Spirity listened to him, her forehead wrinkled a little before she nodded.

Another silence followed.

But soon, Spirity continued to speak. And as her words fell into Qin Yu’s ears, it was no different from a thunderclap.

“The Soul Mushroom is doing quite well. How did you accomplish this?”

Qin Yu’s face darkened. He slowly said, “How does miss know about this?”

Spirity seemed as if it were a matter of course. “I just know.”

Qin Yu’s voice turned cold. “As for how I accomplished that, it has nothing to do with miss.”

Spirity thought for a moment then nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Qin Yu frowned. “Miss, just who are you?”

Spirity said, “Once the Soul Mushroom reaches true maturity, you will understand.” She turned to leave. After several steps, her figure started to fade away. But just before she vanished, she told Qin Yu one more thing.

“The Five Element Sword Array is something you can cultivate.”

Qin Yu sat in place for a long time, unable to calm down. It wasn’t only because of the mysterious Spirity, but also because of her final parting words.

Five Element Sword Array…Qin Yu had watched with his own eyes as a Nascent Soul supreme elder of Immortal Eclipse Valley used the sword array to force back three Nascent Souls of the demonic path, even cutting off one of their arms in the process. And the sword curtain in front of him also quietly informed him just what sort of terrifying potential the Five Element Sword Array possessed. If he could learn it…

He started to walk away. Eclipse Yuan watched in shock and puzzlement as Qin Yu flew up into the skies.

….

Pill Crucible tightly frowned. He muttered, “What nonsense! Who told you that you could cultivate the Five Element Sword Array?” This young junior-apprentice brother of his didn’t seem happy unless he was stirring up a mess. Not only did he go to the Pill Disposal Department but now he even had thoughts of the Five Element Sword Array.

Could something like that be casually messed with? If he wasn’t careful he could lose his life!

Qin Yu cupped his hands across his chest. “Why does senior-apprentice brother have to question me? Just tell me how, that’s all I need.”

Pill Crucible angrily waved his hand, annoyed. “Of course you can’t…” But as he faced Qin Yu’s eyes, he couldn’t speak out the words he wanted to say. He coldly humphed again and again before sitting down in an angry huff. “You brat, you were just in seclusion and now you want to anger me to death. You want the Five Element Sword Array right? Then I’ll tell you just what sort of trap it is!”

The Five Element Sword Array was an inheritance passed down from ancient times. It was unknown what era it originated from and it was similarly unknown who created it. When it was made public, it once created a tremendous stir. The combined power of the Five Element Sword Array possessed infinite might. It made one invincible amongst the same realm, and with it one could easily leap realms to fight. But soon the Five Element Sword Array was destroyed by all factions and was no longer passed down.

This was because even if a multi-attribute cultivator were to spend endless time and effort and learn the Five Element Sword Array, they still wouldn’t be able to gather the five elements as one and utilize the sword array to its full potential.

To gather five elements as one, one needed five different magic power sources to simultaneously pour out five different types of magic power. Each source needed to become as one, communicating and coordinating perfectly to achieve this. Simply put, a person needed to cultivate five Golden Cores of five different elements to truly accomplish this!

Once, there was a great cultivating faction that chose the most outstanding juniors of their generation and assigned each one to cultivate their own sword element. They hoped to form a five-man sword formation, but in the end they didn’t succeed. As for those five disciples, they missed out on the best cultivating period of their lives, eventually ruining their future prospects.

Cultivating this alone was hopeless and the five-man formation had failed. If it were only referencing the mysteries of the Five Element Sword Array, then it would have been a good source of knowledge and wouldn’t have needed to be destroyed. But, the key problem was that it was simply too exquisite a technique. Many disciples harbored thoughts of perceiving it as they looked through it, but in the end they plunged themselves into the depths of its mysteries and were unable to remove themselves.

And, the higher one’s martial talent, the easier it was to fall into the trap of perceiving it. It was simply a massive bottomless hole that was destroying the most outstanding disciples of every faction! At this time, the various factions flew into a rage and joined together to destroy this technique!

Pill Crucible coldly sneered. “Are you scared now? My Immortal Eclipse Valley’s Five Element Sword Array is just a relic that an ancestor inadvertently obtained from a wandering cultivator. Even with the skill of our ancestors they still weren’t able to cultivate it, so they transformed it into a great valley-protecting array formation. You little brat, you’re a bit smart and those that love falling into the trap of the Five Element Sword Array are exactly like you!”

Qin Yu had a dignified expression. He lowered his head, quiet.

Pill Crucible thought that Qin Yu had been frightened. His expression relaxed a little, but he still seemed stern. “You are young, so you should understand how great and vast this world is. You’ve seen how tyrannically powerful the Five Element Sword Array is, so don’t walk down that path. Use this as a lesson. After this, don’t think about these things too much. In this world, free meat pies do not fall from the sky, so don’t even think about those fancy dreams where you soar up in a single move. Honest and proper cultivation is the only way to go!”

Qin Yu cupped his hands together. “I will sincerely remember senior-apprentice brother’s teachings.”

This was the first time that Pill Crucible had taught this young and wily junior-apprentice brother of his a good lesson. He smiled in satisfaction and smirked. But just as he was about to laugh, Qin Yu’s next words nearly caused him to pull off his beard!

“I ask that senior-apprentice brother grant me the Five Element Sword Array.”

He still hadn’t given up!

This old man had used so much saliva, and yet it was all wasted!

Did Qin Yu not know that this old man was the wealthiest person within the entire Southern Empire and Northern Dynasty? Just a single minute of his was worth tens of thousands of spirit stones! His time was extremely expensive!

Pill Crucible’s eyes popped up in rage. Brat, you are a little bastard, completely hopeless!